Gore’s lawyers say Harris must postpone a decision on the election and respect the hand-counting.

Republicans say it’s too late for the hand counts, which they regard as subjective and biased pro-Gore.

Gore allies have been disappointed by the small increase in his votes from the hand recounts, although that could change if dented – “dimpled” – ballots are allowed.

Gore is placing his trust in David Boies, the Microsoft-zapper, who got more time to speak than any other lawyer.

Boies asked the panel of judges to let the hand recount continue and to be flexible in defining a vote.

“This court certainly has the power to tell county boards that they have time to complete the recount,” said Boies, who added the court must apply “a lot of judgment” to set standards for which machine-rejected ballots should count.

Barry Richards, a Bush lawyer, said the judges should avoid “stepping into the shoes” of the legislative and executive branches by rewriting the seven-day deadline for declaring the election.

From a strategy standpoint, the low moment for Republicans came during an exchange between Joe Klock, Harris’ lawyer, and Justice Harry Anstead.

Anstead got Klock to admit that the deadline – cited by Harris – is not absolute, a crucial concession given the GOP’s argument that the seven-day mark is sacred.

“Of course [the deadline is] not absolute,” he said.

Judges also seem concerned with the idea of letting Democrats count ballots all month given the looming Dec. 12 deadline for including Florida in the Dec. 18 Electoral College voting.

Team Gore, perhaps more confident, has downplayed the prospect of an appeal if the veep loses this case before the seven justices, all of them Democratic appointees.

Team Bush would likely appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on grounds the hand recounts are rife with partisan bias and unconstitutional.

To accommodate the broad interest in the hearing, clerk Craig Waters held a lottery to draw the names of 28 reporters who were allowed inside the courtroom.

Spectators began arriving at 8 a.m. for the 2 p.m. hearing, which lasted just over two hours.

The scene outside was chaotic, with protesters, stern sheriff’s deputies and reporters mashed together in the shadow of the courthouse.

Lawyer Bruce Rogow, a Gore ally representing Palm Beach County, sought to stamp out charges from GOPers that allowing people to recount ballots contaminates the process.

“It’s absolutely open to the public,” Rogow said of hand counts under way in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. “It’s tedious work, but it is done tenderly.”